Syndicate: Break the logic of war! Desert! Open the borders!

[florian schneider <fls@ibu.de>]

Munich/Berlin/Amsterdam/Vienna/Belgrade/Liverpool/Budapest/Moscow... 
30 March 1999

Break the logic of war! Desert! Open the borders!

The disastrous plight of the civilian population in Kosovo is continuing
unabatedly. Whether they like it or not, the NATO countries have begun
to play an active role in the crisis-ridden region of the Balkans. They
must take responsibility by not only offering humanitarian aid and
shelter to the civilian population, but also by opening up their own
borders. Any attempts at fleeing the war must be actively supported, in
whichever way possible.

This is particularly important for deserters and conscientious objectors
who defy being drafted into one of the fighting armies. In Yugoslavia,
many reservists are currently being called up - patriots as well as
opposion supporters - to fight on the Serb side in Kosovo. The
possibility of them being put into dangerous positions, prone to NATO
attacks, is particularly high. There is a moral obligation towards the
men and women who defy serving in the army. They deserve special
protection in the region and must be received as legitimate asylum
seekers in any and all of the NATO countries.

We demand that Europe - individual citizens, countries and their
governments - should open their borders for refugees, war victims and
deserters, and to offer them shelter and political protection. Extensive
material support should also be given to neighbouring countries,
including Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, and the Republic of
Montenegro, to deal with the large influx of refugees. Humanitarian
budgets must be able to rival military budgets.

We also demand and immediate cessation of military and paramilitary
activities in Kosovo and Yugoslavia by the FRY's army and paramilitary
groups, by NATO, and KLA forces and call for a return to diplomatic
negotiations towards a peaceful settlement of the crisis. We demand an
immediate end to NATO's attacks, and to the repression and military
aggression against the Albanian population.

We demand the setting up of support centres and services to aid the
flight and desertion of individuals through and into Hungary, Austria,
Italy, Germany, and other countries. The borders of countries
neighbouring on Yugoslavia have to be open, especially for men.

We demand the active, moral and material support and protection of
independent voices and media in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, for
the sake of their courage and for the sake of a free flow of independent
and uncensored information and communication on all sides.

Let us defy the mad logic of war!

 Inke Arns, mikro e.V. (Berlin) - Eddie Berg, Foundation for Art &
Creative Technology (Liverpool) - Andreas Broeckmann, V2_Organisation
(Rotterdam/Berlin) - Vuk Cosic and Marko Peljhan, Ljubljana Digital
Media Lab (Ljubljana) - Crash Media (London) - Adele Eisenstein and
Andrea Szekeres, C3 - Center for Culture & Communication (Budapest) -
Olia Lialina and Florian Schneider, Teleportacia.org (Moscow/Munich) -
Geert Lovink (Amsterdam) - Vesna Manojlovic (Amsterdam) - Mira
Oklobdzija, PressNow (Amsterdam)-  Drazen Pantic (New York) - Public
Netbase t0 (Wien) - Jutta Schmiederer, Ars Electronica Festival (Linz)



For further information, please, contact Florian Schneider <fls@ibu.de>
and Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>.